A distraught mother who watched her husband and two-year-old daughter die when they were struck by a train could face deportation in coming days.

Anand Runwal, 40, and his wife Poonam, 39, were on a family outing with their twin daughters when the girls’ pram rolled onto train tracks at Carlton Station, in Sydney‘s south, about 12.25pm on Sunday.

Mr Runwal heroically leapt down from the platform in a brave attempt to save his daughters but a passing train struck and killed both the father and one of the little girls. The other child escaped virtually unscathed.

Mr Runwal and his wife Poonam had just moved from India to Sydney with their twin daughters in October 2023 after he secured a job at an IT firm in North Sydney. 

Now Daily Mail Australia can reveal Mr Runwal was in Australia on a skilled worker visa, with his wife and children listed on the same visa as dependants. 

The visa was due to expire on August 1 and Mr Runwal was in the process of having it renewed. 

Mr Runwal sought advice on Facebook five weeks ago about the process for applying for fast-tracked passports for both he and his wife, as they were needed to apply for the new visa. 

‘My visa is going to expire on Aug 1 2024, where as my passport has [an] expiry date of Feb 2025,’ he wrote. 

‘As per my employer, I need to have at least 12 months expiry date from today on my PP to extend my visa.’

As Ms Runwal’s visa is reliant on her husband’s working visa, her right to stay in Australia is now at risk as she grapples with the heartbreaking tragedy.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Home Affairs for comment.

The revelation comes as witness Lauren Langelaar told Daily Mail Australia how the surviving twin – who was rescued from underneath the train – had ‘hardly a scratch’ on her when she was eventually reunited with her distraught mother.

The little girl was released from hospital on Monday morning. 

Ms Langelaar was working across the road when the tragedy unfolded. She ran to the platform after hearing the mother’s screams for help.

‘I ran out to help the mother because I could just hear her screaming while looking down onto the tracks,’ Ms Langelaar said.

‘It all happened very quickly. I was down on the platform helping the mother try and scream out to her children and husband under the train.’

Ms Langelaar said a Sydney Trains worker, who was on the platform, called emergency services and explained they could ‘only hear one child crying’.

When police arrived, they told Ms Langelaar to hold the mother back while officers jumped onto the tracks.

‘As I sat [Ms Runwal] down, the little girl got pulled out of under the train with hardly a scratch on her, she was just crying,’ Ms Langelaar said.

She said Mr Runwal ‘begged’ paramedics to hand over her little girl so that she could hold her but was initially denied as they assessed the toddler’s injuries.

‘She refused at first for paramedics to check her out, she just wanted to hold her,’ Ms Langelaar said.

‘Then she continued to yell out, “Where is my husband and other child?”.’

Ms Langelaar said paramedics continued to assess the little girl while she was in her mother’s arms as she ‘didn’t seem to be hurt’ and only had a ‘slight bump on the back of her head’.

The surviving toddler was taken to St George Hospital with her mother where they were assessed by doctors before being released.

Ms Langelaar said one man attempted to wave down the driver to alert him to the danger, but was unsuccessful. 

‘There was one man who apparently tried to wave the train down telling it to stop, but because it wasn’t meant to stop at that station it just had no chance,’ she said.   

NSW Police Superintendent Paul Dunstan said the parents appeared to have taken their hands off the pram for a ‘very short period of time’ before it rolled towards the tracks.

Mr Dunstan said police were investigating what caused the pram to roll and said it could have been something as simple as a ‘gust of wind’.

NSW premier Chris Minns, who lives within 100m of the station, said the father died while performing an ‘extraordinary, instinctual act of bravery’.

‘He gave his own life to try and save his children,’ he said.

Mr Minns described the incident as a ‘terrible, terrible tragedy’ for the surviving family members and first responders. 

The Premier did not rule out introducing new measures to prevent similar tragedies from occurring.

‘We’ll work with NSW trains and police inquiries and if changes need to be made we’ll make them,’ he said.

‘It’s too early to say, but I don’t want to close the door on any changes we could make.

‘Train stations can be dangerous places and we all need to be cognisant of that.’

Sydney Trains CEO Matthew Longland said he did not want to speculate on the outcome of the police investigation but said any recommendations to improve safety would be considered.

‘Our first priority is to support those involved and to work with the investigation to ensure we have all the appropriate facts so we can fully understand the incident,’ Mr Longland said. 

‘We will consider any recommendations that come out of the investigation. I do want to remind everyone to be particularly safe on platforms when travelling on the rail network. 

‘Stay behind the yellow line and well clear of the platform edge. Train stations are very dangerous places.’

Mr Longland described the scene as ‘confronting’ and thanked first responders for their efforts. 

‘Clearly, incidents like this are quite confronting for everyone involved, and I want to thank all the first responders for their efforts in managing such a difficult situation,’ Mr Longland said.

One potential safety measure could be platform screen doors, which have been installed across the new Sydney Metro network. 

Each door weights 175 kilograms and has a height of about 2.5 metres, creating a complete barrier between the platform and the track.

‘The doors will help increase safety by creating a barrier between the platforms and tracks, allowing customers to move along the platforms more efficiently,’ Sydney Metro said. 

The platform screen doors were vigorously tested before being put into operation for metro services at the start of 2024.